Attendance 49,472
Rangers moved nine points clear of Celtic in the SPL title race thanks to a 2-0 win over Partick Thistle at Ibrox this afternoon – but the three points were only secured after a grim struggle as the Light Blues made heavy weather of overcoming their Glasgow rivals.
Manager Alex McLeish made four changes from the side that had fought out a 1-1 draw with Dunfermline in the Scottish cup-tie two weeks ago as injuries and suspensions took their toll – Maurice Ross, Stephen Hughes, Peter Lovenkrands and Michael Mols replacing Kevin Muscat, Barry Ferguson, Claudio Caniggia and Neil McCann.
It was Thistle who made the early running – Gerry Britton beating the offside trap from an Alex Burns pass to go clear inside eight minutes only to be denied by a timely Fernando Ricksen tackle.
Britton it was again who tested Stefan Klos with a shot on the turn in 22 minutes as the League Leaders struggled to make an impact on the game.
Two minutes later however Lovenkrands tested Kenny Arthur with a 25-yard drive that the goalkeeper beat out, then on the half-hour Ronald De Boer cleverly outmanouvered the visitors’ attempt to play the offside game with a slide-rule pass to Mols, the Dutchman’s low cross being stolen off Lovenkrands’ boot by Stephen Craigan.
Rangers were now imposing themselves on proceedings – three minutes later a net-bound shot by Lovenkrands was deflected wide by the back of Michael Mols, yet the breakthrough would not come, and the half ended goalless with the 49,000 spectators becoming more and more frustrated by the unfolding events.
An appalling Ross error inside the opening sixty seconds of the restart almost presented the ‘Jags’ with a gift opener – the full-back’s back-pass releasing Burns clean in on goal – but Klos came to the rescue by blocking the Firhill man’s drive.
Rangers might have punished that miss to the full straight away – Mols going clear only for hesitation to cost him the chance. Neil McCann was introduced in 49 minutes, replacing the limping Maurice Ross, as the Ibrox injury worries continued to mount.
Stephen Hughes was inches wide with a 22-yard drive in 53 minutes from a Mols pass, then two minutes later Michael himself shot weakly wide following a delightful turn and pass by De Boer.
Rangers were now turning the screw in an effort to break the deadlock – McCann’s curling twenty-yard free-kick being turned wide by Arthur, and from the resulting corner Craig Moore – Captain on the day – might have done better than head over from Arteta’s kick.
Caniggia replaced the struggling Arteta on the hour, then just when Mols was about to be substituted by Arveladze the Dutchman’s header from a Hughes cross provided the opening goal much to the intense relief of the capacity crowd in 69 minutes.
Suddenly it was all so simple – five minutes later Mols again struck gold when he took advantage of a fortuitous rebound from a De Boer pass to sweep the ball into the net for Goal Number Two.
Partick would not give up the ghost just yet – a Jamie Mitchell cross in 82 minutes found the unmarked David Rowson plumb in front of goal, only for Klos to again prove equal to the task with a point-blank save.
There was no further scoring however – and the final whistle sent Rangers closer to that cherished 50th League title.
Manager Alex McLeish afterwards reflected on a hard-fought win: "Michael’s two goals proved the value of a striker. I was about to substitute him, but a goalscorer can be out of a game for 89 minutes, and then score. Look at McCoist. Both Stefan Klos and Bob Malcolm were outstanding today. We obviously missed Barry Ferguson – any team would miss their best player. A few players today didn’t do themselves justice."
McLeish refused to comment when questioned about Mikel Arteta’s struggling form.
RANGERS Klos; Ricksen, Moore, Malcolm, Ross (McCann 49); Hughes, Konterman, Arteta (Caniggia 60), Lovenkrands (Arveladze 76); Mols, De Boer
UNUSED SUBS McGregor, Eggen
PARTICK THISTLE Arthur; Archibald, Craigan, Paterson (Whyte 9), Lilley; Mitchell, Buchan, Fleming (Waddell 77), Rowson; Burns, Britton (Walker 84)
UNUSED SUBS Gibson, Pinkowski
REFEREE Kenny Clark